EDITORIAL

Once its merger with British Petroleum Co. plc is complete, the Chicago-based energy giant will make the unusual, although not unprecedented, move of giving departing board members six-figure farewell payments. Among the recipients are four non-employee directors, including Arthur Martinez, chairman and CEO of Sears, Roebuck and Co., who will get a $154,000 parting gift.

Amoco says the payments are to recognize the board members' contributions over the years. (In the case of Mr. Martinez, it's a grand total of two years.) The decision was made after the merger deal was sealed. But this gesture smacks of corporate cronyism and sends a troubling message to thousands of workers who could lose their jobs, or have their careers sidetracked, by the merger.

Moreover, the company's shareholders have the right to wonder why they're paying these part-time workers, even if they are board members, such generous severances. When shareholders were last informed, Amoco's non-employee directors received $64,000 annually and 300 shares of company stock -- shares whose price has increased from $46 to about $60 since the merger was announced.

Some shareholder activists argue that paying farewell bonuses is a sound practice because it allows merged companies to quickly reduce their boards to a more manageable size. Smaller, more responsive boards are a must. But ponying up cash of this magnitude to exiting directors, who have already been well compensated, is not the best way to achieve that worthy goal.